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Thursday, 25 February 2016

Girl who reported being gang raped by 5 teens backtracks, admits the sex was consensual

Charges against five teenage boys who were accused of gang-raping an 18-year-old girl at a playground in Brooklyn last month have been dropped as she admits to having consensual sex with the boys and her father. The unnamed girl has recanted her allegations of sexual assault against Denzel Murray, 14, Shaquell Cooper and Ethan Phillip, both 15, and Onandi Brown and Travis Beckford, both 17, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced Wednesday afternoon.

'Working closely with the NYPD, my office has thoroughly investigated disturbing and very serious allegations of a gang rape at gunpoint last month inside the Osborn Playground in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn,' a statement from Thompson's office reads.

'The complainant, as well as her father, provided multiple inconsistent accounts to NYPD Detectives and to experienced Special Victims prosecutors about important material facts in this case.

'The complainant has recanted her allegations of forcible sexual assault and the existence of a gun, and she does not wish to pursue criminal charges against any of the defendants.

'She also refuses to cooperate with any prosecution against her father, who was engaging in sexual conduct with her. That night, this young woman's father and the five young men engaged in conduct that was reprehensible and wrong, but because of the lack of reliable evidence, criminal charges simply cannot be sustained.'

Originally authorities charged the five teens accused - ages 14, 15, 15, 17 and 17 - as adults, each with one count of rape, two counts of criminal sex act, and one count of sex abuse in connection with the alleged assault.

The girl involved claimed that she was with her 39-year-old father in the park drinking at about 9pm on January 7 when the group of teens approached them. She told investigators that the group accosted them in the park and ordered the father to leave.

Following the teens' arrests in January, two of the boys insisted that they had consensual sex with the 18-year-old. They also claimed to have witnessed the young woman having sex with her father in the park before the man staggered away from the scene, leaving his daughter alone with the teens.